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"I might have known it," the Brigadier said tersely. "The Doctor and Miss Shaw have managed to lose themselves on an island that doesn't exist."

1934: Salutua, a legendary lost island in the Pacific. Millionaire Marshal J Grover's expedition arrives to uncover and exploit its secrets. But the task is complicated by a film star's fears and ambitions and a scientist's lethal obsession.

Nearly forty years later: UNIT headquarters, London. The Doctor and Liz Shaw are asked to identify a mysterious artefact and trace its origin. The trail leads them back in time to Salutua and a gigantic discovery. Meanwhile, the Brigadier faces an epidemic of UFO sightings and supernatural occurrences that threaten to bring about global panic. Only the Doctor can help him — but he's trapped on a mythical island four decades in the past.

This story restates that the careers of Mike Yates and Liz Shaw in UNIT overlapped. This was never seen on television, as Yates' first adventure was the one which followed Shaw's departure. The Doctor indicates in Terror of the Autons that Yates had the job of "cleaning up after" the Auton invasion, as depicted in Spearhead from Space. Here we see the first meeting of Sergeant Yates, the Doctor and Liz Shaw. The book claims that Yates had been on "clean-up duty" throughout season 7, and that he had been combing the countryside for any stray bits of Auton and Silurian detritus.

According to the Brigadier, the reason that he himself is the only officer during Season 7 is budgetary. The UN/UK cannot afford to give the Brigadier any officers. Thus, he tells then-Sergeant Yates and Benton that they're going to have to be responsible well above their pay grade.